Weekend in New Orleans, LA

A three day weekend meant a quick road trip to New Orleans for our first trip of the year. We took an extra day off work and left San Antonio Thursday night. The plan was to drive to Lake Charles where we would spend the night and hit the road early to N.O. Friday morning we woke up ate a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed straight to Oak Alley Plantation. We made a quick detour in Baton Rouge so I can see Tiger Stadium at LSU.

After our detour we finally made it to Oak Alley Plantation. Once we got to the ticket booth we were told the mansion itself was closed for some repairs but that we can tour the grounds on our own. Oak Alley Plantation is a National Historic Landmark located in the west bank of the Mississippi River about 45 minutes outside of N.O it is definitely a cool attraction if you can manage to fit it in your trip.

After leaving the plantation, we headed to Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop for lunch. The place was a small hole in the wall but the food and service were amazing. To start we ordered the Crab Cakes and they were delicious especially with the spicy mayo that comes with it. The main course was red beans & rice with a side of jambalaya and the Mumbo Gumbo. The red beans & rice were good but they were missing a little something. However, the jambalaya and gumbo were perfection!! The portions were huge so you can share. I definitely recommend this joint. The only thing was that the spice level was low for what I expected Cajun food to be.

After Chef Ron’s we went to check in at our hotel, relax for a bit and headed out to check out Bourbon Street. I had it in my mind before this trip that I was going to try everything in New Orleans. The plan was to buy one or two meals and share so we can try a variety of the cuisine there. Once we hit Bourbon I ran into Willie’s Chicken Shack which was recommended by a co-worker before I left. The place was great like what you would expect an authentic Popeye’s to taste. I’m not gonna lie the biscuits were the bomb!! Probably the best I’ve ever had.

We continued our way down Bourbon St. and into Tropical Isle for one of the famous hand grenades. This place was a pretty cool little bar with live music. If you never had a hand grenade I gotta tell you it is sweet but I can see how people can get messed up after a few of these since its pretty much a trash can punch. On Bourbon Street you can walk out with your drinks so we headed out to explore a bit more before calling it a night.

Once I was done with my hand grenade, I decided to have one more drink since I was getting pretty tired from all the driving I had done. We stopped at one of the many daiquiri spots and I got a mix of a hurricane and 190 something.

I took my little daiquiri to go and headed over to Jackson Square to check out St. Louis Cathedral the oldest in the United States (as you will see I have a thing for churches and sandwiches).

Once we hit the open square that is when I realized how cold it really was with the wind from the Mississippi River hitting us. We decided to get some coffee au lait, hot coco, and beignets at the infamous Cafe Du Monde. This place is definitely a must to try, those beignets which are like French doughnuts are the bomb (beware if you are wearing black you will have powder sugar all over you). We got an order which brings three beignets and it was plenty for two people unless you really love sugar!! FYI this place is cash only so make sure you bring some.

Throughout the night, I had been snapchatting with my boy Shane who is from NOLA and he was giving me recommendations. I googled one of the spots he gave me and found out it was right up the street. At this point I was like thuglife let’s go grab a Po’ Boy. We headed a few blocks up to NOLA Po’ Boys and shared a Spicy Catfish Po’ Boy and I have to say this was the best meal we had all day!!!! (I also have a thing for sandwiches) Great way to end our Friday night.

Saturday morning I woke starving (I told you I was trying to everything in New Orleans). We decided to sleep in for a bit and once we woke up and got ready we hit the streets and went Willie Mae’s Scotch House for some of the best fried chicken you will ever have. The line was insane and we waited about an hour to get in but it was definitely worth it. The chicken was so crispy and juicy I would wait another hour to have some more.

Once we finished eating we headed to the Garden District to check out some of the old southern mansions. I gotta say, the architecture is very impressive.

After all the walking we went into a little coffee shop across Lafayette cemetery called Still Perkins for some coffee and hot mocha. We went in and explored the cemetery. If you ever walked through one before you know the eerie feeling you get walking thru all the tombstones. Since N.O. is a swamp and the water table is high the tombstones are above ground so that is pretty cool but you can’t help but think nobody is resting in peace with all the tourist walking around snapping pictures.

After leaving the cemetery we headed to Mahony’s Po-Boys & Seafood on Magazine street which was recommended by a friend. We had the Shrimp Po-Boy and the Hot Sausage Po-Boy and both were delicious, definitely a place to eat at in N.O.

After Mahoney’s we headed back to the room to relax and get ready for the night. The plan for the evening was Frenchman’s street for some live Jazz. We went to 30°/-90° and to Bamboula’s both places were really good. 30°/-90° was a little more mellow and Bamboula’s was more lively. Kind of as if Jazz met Bluegrass.

Bamboula’s

30°/-90°

After the Jazz bars we headed to Dat Dog and had the Alligator Sausage!!! I know after a few drinks everything taste better but this was really good.

The next morning we headed to Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral. The square was alive! There was music everywhere. Performers everywhere. People everywhere. We visited the Cathedral and it was beautiful inside. It was super peaceful even though you could hear all the music from the square.

So it was time for food again! We headed to Napoleon’s House to have a muffuletta. The menu said a half could feed 2 people but man I think it could feed like 4. It was delicious!

After we ate we went to Bourbon street to walk around and buy a few souvenirs. We stopped by The Old Absinthe House for a couple of drinks then hit the streets again and had a fish bowl of Hurricane. After a few drinks we headed back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for dinner.

After some much needed rest we headed back out to Bourbon Street but first we feast!! Our Uber driver recommended we hit up Deanie’s Seafood Restaurant for some good seafood. When we sat down they brought us some potatoes as an appetizer which was really weird but those had to be the best potatoes I’ve ever had in my entire life. I ordered a 1/2 dozen Charbroiled Oysters and they were delicious. I can’t believe I’ve never had Oysters like this before. Even if you don’t like raw Oysters I guarantee you’ll like them charbroiled. For the main course I ordered the Catfish platter and I have to say that this thing could feed three or four people depending your level on hunger. The catfish was great I definitely recommend this restaurant on your next trip to NOLA.

After dinner we had a few drinks and called it a night. We had a long drive back to Texas ahead of us. On the way back to Texas we stopped at Don’s Specialty Meats for some Boudin balls and some great tasting Cracklins. I bought a 1/4 lb of cracklin and I don’t think they lasted more than 30 minutes.